From The Archives: In 1953, then-art student Art Clokey created a 3-1/2 minute stop-motion short called Gumbasia using techniques he learned from his teacher, former USC Film School Dean Slavko Vorkapić.

Clokey showed Gumbasia to movie producer Sam Engel, whose son Clokey happened to be tutoring at the time. Engel was so impressed that he offered to fund Clokey’s next endeavor, with the suggestion that he add clay figures.

That endeavor? A pilot for what would become one of the most beloved children’s television shows of all time — Gumby.

Art Clokey would have turned 90 today, had he not passed away in January of last year. To honor his memory, Google illustrated an interactive doodle which features Gumby and all his animated pals.